Full list of countries which could be added to the green and red travel lists this week

14 September 2021, 06:51 | Updated: 14 September 2021, 09:15

By Heart

@thisisheart

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is set to review the UK’s traffic light system this week.

After being cooped up for a year and a half, many families were desperate to get away this summer.

But with strict travel rules still in place across the world, including red lists and Covid tests to think about, going on holiday has been more difficult than usual.

Well, in the latest travel review, things could be made easier as experts have predicted 24 countries will be going on the green list.

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PC Agency's Paul Charles said on Twitter: "There have been no new Covid Variants of Concern since 11th May.

"Our analysis shows 24 countries should come off the UK red list immediately including Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, Namibia, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, Uruguay, Zambia."

Many people responded asking if Turkey and the Maldives were set to come off the red list, as they are currently thought of as ‘high risk’ and require hotel quarantine before travellers can return to the UK.

Mr Charles said that according to infection rates, Turkey should be taken off the red list.

"It has some of the best Covid safety policies in place,” he said, adding: “Especially in hotels and other tourist areas and has worked hard to reduce its infection rates."

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The Dominican Republic and Mexico could also be moved from red to amber.

Meanwhile, according to travel experts, Jamaica could be at risk of moving to the red list due to rising coronavirus cases, while holiday hotspots such as St Lucia and Grenada are also seeing rising infection rates.

There are also a few countries which could move from amber to green, including Italy as the country has reported 58 infections per 100,000 people in the last seven days.

According to the Mirror, holiday hotspots such as France, Spain and Portugal have also drops in their coronavirus case numbers.

This comes after it was reported the travel lists could be scrapped altogether next month.

According to the Telegraph, officials are developing a new system based on the vaccination status of travellers rather than the Covid situation in other countries.

A source told the Telegraph: “It’s about whether you are vaccinated or not, rather than the country you are travelling to.

“What it means is that green and amber disappear and only vaccination status will count for where you travel. For a vaccinated person, just as now all countries apart from red are ‘green’."

At the moment, the Government uses many factors to decide how to classify each country, including infection rates, whether there are any variants and the number of people who have been vaccinated.

There are currently 62 locations on the red list, which means holidaymakers must fork out for a government quarantine hotel on their return.

For those travelling to amber countries who are fully vaccinated, they do not have to self-isolate on their return, however they must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2.

Find out more details on the Gov.uk website.